Snowden won't return to US without amnesty

Edward Snowden would be willing to enter talks with US Attorney General Eric Holder to negotiate his return to the United States but not without a guarantee of amnesty, his legal adviser said.

Jesselyn Radack said she was glad Holder indicated last week he would talk to lawyers for the former US spy agency contractor to negotiate his return from Moscow, but that Snowden would need better protection.

"It's a little disheartening that he (Holder) seemed to take clemency and amnesty off the table, which are two of the negotiating points," said Radack, who was interviewed via satellite from Moscow.

"But again, none of us have been contacted yet about restarting negotiations," the legal adviser said.

Holder said in an interview on Thursday the United States would not consider the idea of amnesty for Snowden "where we say, no harm, no foul".

Radack, who is the director of national security and human rights at the Government Accountability Project - a whistleblowers' organization - said Snowden has already suffered because his US passport has been revoked.

"He has been punished quite a bit already and while we are glad to dialogue and negotiate, he is not going to come back and face an espionage prosecution," she said.

Snowden himself on Thursday discussed what conditions would be necessary if he were to return to the United States on a website called "Free Snowden".

"Returning to the US, I think, is the best resolution for the government, the public, and myself, but it's unfortunately not possible in the face of current whistleblower protection laws, which through a failure in law did not cover national security contractors like myself," Snowden wrote.